Homewood Suites by Hilton, an upscale, all-suite, residential, extended-stay hotel will be coming soon to the Hyla Crossing neighborhood of Issaquah.

ContributedGLY staff, subcontractors and Rowley’s team signed a beam to mark the topping off of the Homewood Suites Hotel by Hilton. The beam was flown by GLY’s crane operator to the top of the building where it was then permanently installed. The extended stay hotel is scheduled to open this summer.

Last week, key players in the project participated in a topping-off ceremony organized by GLY Construction. Read more

By Misty PetersonCougar Mountain Zoo’s new walk-in freezer for the carnivore diets was officially put in operation June 30 in a ribbon-cutting ceremony, performed by Peter Rittler, Zoological Society of Washington President, Hudson Bott and Mayor Fred Butler (from left) as zoo curator Robyn Barfoot (far left) and other city officials look on.

Rowley Properties recently promoted Kristi Tripple to vice president for Community Development and she is now an officer of the corporation.

Tripple joined the Rowley team in 2005 as human resources director. She has worked with the community, its stakeholders and the city on Rowley’s Development Agreement visioning, planning and implementation. She will continue her involvement in the evolution and redevelopment of both of the Hyla Crossing and Rowley Center neighborhoods.

Rowley Properties’ eight-story hotel could be the first example of the Central Issaquah Plan in motion.

While the city pieced together the parts of its long-term vision of how central Issaquah should develop, approving the final plan late last year, it worked with the local real estate development company. Rowley Properties had an interest in redeveloping its holdings in the area and to specifically build a mixed use, extended-stay hotel near the existing Hilton Garden Inn west of SR 900.

By Greg FarrarDirt is piled up, underground pipe is stacked onsite and earth-moving equipment is at work on land north of the Hilton Garden Inn on Northwest Gilman Boulevard, between Hyla Avenue Northwest and 18th Avenue Northwest.

“Rowley was gearing up and didn’t want to wait until the CIP was done,” Project Oversight Manager Christopher Wright said. It led to a great deal of cooperation between the city and Rowley Properties.

Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts plans to open a drive-thru Issaquah location as early as next month — a first for the Seattle-based pastry purveyor.

Cofounder Mark Klebeck said Top Pot intends to upgrade Rowley Properties’ existing building at 1235 N.W. Maple St. — a round structure most recently occupied by Mondo’s Espresso — near the Issaquah Transit Center.

The iconic structure’s Mid-Century Modern design and proximity to the transit hub appealed to the Klebecks.

The entrepreneur and former banking executive ran unopposed for a City Council seat in 2009 and won election as the first Issaquah Highlands resident to serve on the council.

The highlands added thousands of residents as construction escalated in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but the neighborhoods existed for more than a decade before a resident achieved citywide elected office.

In the years Mullet served on the council, members hired City Administrator Bob Harrison, oversaw a major staff reorganization at City Hall, approved a long-term redevelopment plan for the business district, inked development agreements with Lakeside Industries and Rowley Properties, and approved a retail plastic bag ban.

Redevelopment plan calls for more than 7,000 residences

City leaders raised the building height limit to 125 feet in the business district and raised the stakes for redevelopment in the decades ahead.

The roadmap to redevelopment — a document called the Central Issaquah Plan — also creates a framework to add more than 7,000 residences on about 1,000 acres stretched along Interstate 90.

In a series of decisions reached Dec. 17 after years spent re-envisioning the business district, a relieved City Council adopted the Central Issaquah Plan, but delayed action on a key piece until at least April.

“It’s the right plan at the right time,” Councilman Fred Butler said. “It will not happen overnight, but when the time is right, we will be ready.”